


Glitter and Lollipops

by Kalloway



Category: Raising Unicorns - Jessica S. Marquis & Kevin Hedgpeth
Genre: Gen, Unicorns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 19:02:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16290047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/pseuds/Kalloway
Summary: A morning at Emmet's Petting Zoo, as narrated by George, a Purebred unicorn.





	Glitter and Lollipops

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taichara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/gifts).



George was a looker and he knew it. He was a perfect, near-blinding white with pale lavender eyes and a long, always tangle-free mane flecked with both silver and gold glitter that his favourite virgin groom, Adelaide, combed out daily to sell in the gift shop. The next day there would be more, and if it wasn't for Adelaide, George would probably drown in his own glitter, though not as quickly as a Twinkletoes might. 

There were plenty of Purebred unicorns in Emmet's petting zoo, and certainly plenty of everything else, too. Nobody ever got turned away, because no matter what they wanted to pet, someone was available to be petted. Sure, certain individuals often had lines, like Terrance the Wyvern or, for reasons nobody had ever figured out, Carli the Gigglerump. But if somebody simply wanted to pet a wyvern, or a gigglerump, or even a Twinkletoes or Purebred, there would be one. 

Emmet always seemed busy, but George still saw him nearly every day, even if it was just for a quick wave on the way by. He kept on top of things, which was better than at the last farm that George had been at. That was part of why George didn't mind hundreds of hands all over his body every day. That and he got a nice percentage of sales from his mane glitter put into his 401(k) so eventually he'd be able to retire to a nice farm somewhere someday that perhaps didn't have unlimited lollipops but also wouldn't have chimeras squawking in the distance, audible even over the enjoyable carousel background music that thankfully looped on a two-week cycle. By the time George was ready to hear the carousel version of 'Never Gonna Give You Up', there it was, but never too soon. 

The zoo wasn't open yet for the day, mostly because the Karmics were not morning unicorns even on the best of days and nobody wanted to pet a Karmic who hadn't had their coffee yet. But George was up, had already done his pilates, and had tossed his mane several times in front of his mirror to make sure he looked presentable in case Adelaide happened to be running late. She never was, but George did not want to take chances. 

Every now and then, somebody, possibly Emmet, would disrupt the two-week carousel music background loop and play some Top 40, or, on very rare occasions, Country. Possibly the griffins liked it. George didn't know and didn't want to. 

But at the moment, George could hear the soft notes of 'Big Bottom' as played by a raunchy midway clown on pipe organ and tried to remember if this would also be the day with 'Baby Got Back' or if that particular intern had been a little more circumspect. Though if Adelaide hadn't pointed out that it _was_ 'Baby Got Back', George wouldn't have noticed. He'd spent the early 1990's attempting to befriend a samurai and hadn't had much time for pop culture. 

That was another nice thing about Emmet - he kept not one but three samurai on staff and while they were surly, they were relatively easy to befriend, at least as displayed by the success of the zoo's young acorns getting their horns. Some mornings, they jogged together through the zoo before putting on their armor for the day, and every now and then one would stop and read George's nameplate and try to pronounce his entire, proper name. 

Emmet could do it, though. Emmet and... well, the man calling out his name, gently, wasn't entirely a stranger, but he was a surprise to see. George had been so caught up with debating why there were so many songs about butts compared to, say, shoulders, that he'd missed his guests. 

He trotted over to Emmet and Carlos and let them both stroke his muzzle and look at the glitter in his mane. 

George sent a quick telepathic message to Emmet asking if there was something wrong and sure he did like his lollipops but perhaps that wasn't really rehab worthy and oh, he did get into-- 

"It's okay," Emmet said quickly, staring into George's gorgeous, pale lavender eyes. "Carlos is just here to visit a few friends."

George had no problem with that explanation. He did okay with nuance and did remember Mindy being away for a few weeks for terrible acid reflux earlier in the year, if that's what it really was. There had been some gossip, of course, but then the zoo had lost two of its best virgins at the same time and there had been other things to gossip about and Mindy had been back before long and she'd also significantly upgraded her tetherball game and the rest had been mostly forgotten. 

Carlos and Emmet moved on quickly, but not before Carlos gave him one last glance. George knew he was a looker, but maybe he'd been a little loud with his comments about the lollipops. It's just that they were always available and very delicious and... 

No, apparently Carlos had just been admiring him. That felt good. That was one of his favorite things, after all, along with posing for drawings by little girls, struggling art students, and sometimes Adelaide who was very sweet and tried very hard but usually made him look a little bit like an anorexic rhino. 

Speaking of, there was Adelaide now. If she'd known about Emmet and Carlos going on a little tour, she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she slipped into George's stall with a full range of implements and a glitter collection tray and got to work. 

"I heard 'Big Bottom' earlier," she noted as she reached with a cloth made of fine woven rose fiber to wipe down George's horn. "Still makes me smile every time." 

From there, she worked her way down his body, readying him for an enjoyable day of selfies, petting, modeling, and waiting for the likely inevitable appearance of 'Baby Got Back'. It would be a good day. 

Hopefully with plenty of glitter sales. His 401(k) was counting on them. 

Even if he would miss the lollipops. 

But that wasn't anything to worry about just yet. Primped just so, and with Adelaide's little tongue-click of approval, George was ready to do his absolute favourite thing - be his gorgeous unicorn self.


End file.
